RWBY: Bemoanings
by dukebop
Summary: After Winter Schnee's assassination, Weiss and her team go to Atlas to try and investigate the culprit. However, life on Atlas is by far the same as Vale, and Team RWBY is taken in an adventure which will teach them just how some humans can be darker than the darkest of Grimm.
1. Chapter 1: Shattered Ice

Terror wasn't something you were supposed to feel on a summer day. Hell, genuine terror can only be felt a handful of times on your _life_. And yet, nothing could prepare Weiss for the news she received.

It was ironic, really. The media said she was killed by Dust. In fact, it was white Dust, the one that makes ice. Coming from a family in which it's sole essence as itself is based on ice, they had arguably way too much experience with ice Dust. But the picture clearly showed; Winter Schnee's body lay lifeless in the ground, with a gash on her neck covered by ice crystals..pristine ice crystals. On any other day, Weiss would have been amazed by their beauty.

She hated herself for that.

The media had quickly blamed the White Fang, but the organization publicly denied being involved in any current assassination plots directed at the Schnee family.

" '_Current'_," Weiss said to herself, but she brushed that thought aside, just like every other thought she had had that day.

_Winter._

Granted, she had never been on really good terms with her sister, especially after she left to become a huntress, but she was still her sibling. Her younger sibling, at that; she still had a whole life to live. Normally, one can only begin to imagine what sick and twisted being would do such a thing to a girl of such young age (of any age, really), but unfortunately, Weiss had one too many of an experience of people like such. She knew how they were; their auras were as dark as Grimm.

Weiss was so entranced in her melancholy that she did not notice her red teammate enter the dormitory. She watched Weiss from the door, with a clear angst on her face, fearing for her friend. She then slowly made her way to her bunk bed, where Weiss was lying.

"Weiss..." Ruby's sweet voice had no effect on Weiss, which still lay burrowed in her blankets. Again, Ruby called her name, but nothing happened.

Ruby felt useless. She knew she had no way of comforting Weiss, and that angered her. She couldn't bear seeing her friend like this, but all she could do was stand there beside Weiss, quite possibly being a nuisance.

"Ruby..."

The crimson huntress jumped up when she heard the brunette mention her name.

"Yes, Weiss?"

_"I'm scared, Ruby."_

The words resounded off of Ruby's ears and she could feel nothing but pity. Weiss was broken. Weiss was never broken. Even at her worst moments, Weiss always had her air around the team and motivated anybody (how it always worked, they never understood). She had her standards, and she tried her best to never show weakness. Sure, Weiss had never said anything to her about this, but she was easy to read. Yet now...

"Ruby..."

"What's wrong, Weiss?"

"Could you...stand still for a moment?"

Ruby didn't even have time to reply when the white brunette extended her arms, firmly pulling Ruby against her body.

And she wailed. Ruby was caught completely off-guard by Weiss's sudden surge of tears, but she stayed firm by her teammate, comforting and sullen.

It was true. Nothing ever existing could have prepared Weiss for the news she received that morning, and for the first time in her life, she felt true _fear_.

* * *

><p>Yang was conflicted. She and Blake had been sitting in the cafeteria for about 15 minutes already, and she still couldn't take her mind off of the heiress.<p>

"Hey...Blake?"

Blake didn't return the message just yet, but Yang knew that she had taken taken her attention off the book she was reading and sterted to listen.

"Can I ask you somethi-"

Blake suddenly closed her book, cutting off Yang's remark.

"Look, if what you're gonna ask me is what I think you're gonna ask me, then yes. I am a bit scared. Things like this are happening in the world ever more often and it's bound to get everyone nervous but you have to-"

"I was actually gonna ask if there was a way to help."

Blake eyed Yang blankly, discovering she had gone off rambling for no reason. "Oh. Um... I don't really know, to be honest. I guess it all boils down to what Weiss is going to do next."

As if on cue, Weiss went through the doors entering the cafeteria, rendering it almost completely silent immediately. If the students had planned to not disturb Weiss about what had happened, it clearly was not working.

Ruby followed Weiss slightly behind her, and they both awkwardly sat in the table where the rest of their team was sitting. Blake buried her face into her book and Yang had a sudden interest in the food she was eating, but Weiss didn't point any of the girls out. Well, at least until Weiss decided she had enough of the silence and stood up angrily.

"SO!? Is every one of you going to keep looking at me as if I had a **Nevermore coming out of my cleavage**, or are you going to actually **finish what you're eating**!?"

And as quick as that, the cafeteria instantly went back to normal, much to the amazement of Team RBY who sat dazed at the spectacle her cold teammate had just put out.

Weiss plopped down on her seat not very gracefully and began to violently type on her scroll's screen.

"Aren't you gonna eat something, Weiss?" Ruby softly asked before Weiss put her scroll down on the table in front of her.

"I'm going to Atlas tomorrow."

"And...we're going with you," Yang added, making Blake choke on her potatoes before banging her fist on the table.

"We...are?"

"That's actually not a bad idea, Yang,"

Blake gave up on her food, deciding today was not a good day to die of suffocation.

"...if, of course, Weiss agrees to let us go."

Weiss slipped out of her chair and started walking to the cafeteria exit.

"Whatever. Do what you want."

And with that, she had left the building.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

First of all, thank you for taking your time to read this small chapter and what will come. I really, really, really appreciate it. Now, a few things. I know the writing is a bit...ehhhh, but I want this book to be a learning experience for when I embark on bigger projects. So, if you may, please review. Point out all the flows, help me improve.

Second of all, I don't have a specific upload schedule for this story, so please, don't be disappointed if I haven't uploaded another chapter yet. I do plan to finish this story, though, so don't you worry.

Well, I guess this it it! Again, thank you for taking your time to read this, and I hope you enjoyed it. With that said, dukebop out!


	2. Chapter 2: Icarus

"Well, then. We're screwed."

Paloma had heard the news in the morning. It seemed like their whole plan was starting to fall apart at the seams.

A screen in the wall presented a video of a man speaking at the camera. His face was covered with a white mask and he had pointy ears sprouting from the top of his head.

"...it is by this that we say that the White Fang has not been involved in any present assassination plans targeted at the Schnee household."

_" 'Present assassination plans. PRESENT ASSASSINATION PLANS.' _Does he seriously think people are gonna believe that!?"

A dark-skinned faunus paced around flailing his arms in anger, trying to establish his point as his fellow squad-mates silently agreed.

"...fucking Torchwick, man, the guy can be a complete retard sometimes."

"Sometimes!?" somebody replied from the group gathered around the one originally rambling.

Paloma had had enough of the screams.

"Sparrow, would you _please _fucking SHUT UP!? Do you not realize I'm trying to think what approach to take here?"

The faunus could not contain his rage.

"For the love of Remnant, Paloma, the guy thinks he's the leader of the whole organization. He refuses to remember that the Valic branch is not only the weakest of the White Fang's, but the most insignificant! I mean, Cinder, the "girl on fire", the fucking "godsend" of a leader, and how did that end? Her head got punched in by a huntress-in-training. You hear me, Paloma? Punched. IN."

"Sparrow, could you-"

"Now Torchwick thinks he can recover from that ridiculous failure? Incredible!"

Paloma sighed before continuing.

"Sparrow, instead of raging about what has happened, could you actually help? Or is that too difficult for you?"

But Sparrow could not reply, for he was interrupted by the piercing scream of two Bullhead engines whirring from outside the building.

"Paloma! This conversation isn't over!" he shouted over the ruckus, but Paloma was entranced watching intently through a window besides her how the sleek, black Bullhead slowly landed on the pavement at the back of the hideout.

The Atlasian White Fang had a knack for being overly stealthy, so much that to this day only a handful of its members could be recognized facially by the police. This stealthy and secretive characteristic translated quite heavily into everything the the organization did. Their main hideout was hidden in the mountains of Northern Atlas in a place inaccessible by any transport other than air, and if somebody even stumbled by accidentally, they would be taken down immediately, regardless of who or what. Grimm themselves wouldn't even dare approach the Atlasian White Fang.

The headquarters's main building was rather large and three stories tall with an inner courtyard. Much parts of it were left unpainted, showing its surprisingly smooth-looking cement walls in the raw, with subtle red, black, and white highlights here and there, the official colors of the White Fang. Other buildings lay in a circle around the main building, except in the extreme back, where the landing pads were placed. The whole complex was surrounded by a 3-foot thick and 7-foot tall concrete wall, lined with guards in several posts all around. Needless to say, it was very intimidating.

Something different from the other White Fang divisions, also, was the soldier's outfit. All of them wore dark gray armored suits, always topped off with their variation of the typical White Fang mask, that circled their whole heads like a type of robotic sunglasses. Yet another thing that distinguished them from the other divisions was their soldiers themselves. The Atlasian White Fang had a peculiar type of squad, which could be instantly recognized as their soldiers: winged faunus.

Paloma jumped down from the second floor onto the courtyard and directed her voice to the soldiers present through a megaphone. "All rise for the Captain!"

A cacophony of boots was then heard as the troops slowly stood up and directed their heads at the large, steel door at the end of said courtyard. After a few seconds, it opened, revealing three people walking towards the building, one walking in front of the other two. Paloma then flew up into the room she was previously in, the main conference room, landing gracefully while she folded her majestic, white wings behind her back. She brushed a strand of her amber hair over her ear and turned around 180 degrees, looking over the open railing at the group who was previously at the gate, now walking up the stairs up to the room she was in.

"Atten...tion!" Paloma screamed at the crowd of soldiers, now looking towards the railing. Then, the faunus in front of the group walked up to Paloma and after slowly eyeing the group below, simply commanded, "At ease."

Paloma directed a measly glare towards the Captain, to which he responded, "Paloma, you don't have to be so harsh to them."

"But Captain-"

"You know I hate when you call me that. You know my real name."

"I know Cap-...uh, Apollo...but you deserve respect for your position. You should try to make use of your authority."

"You and I once were also one of those guys down there, even though you act as if we weren't. Besides, you know better than everyone else that I didn't ask for this position."

Paloma neglectfully lowered her head trying to hide her blush and was pleasantly surprised when Apollo gently rubbed his hand over her silky, brown hair, one that greatly contrasted the Captain's spiky, blonde one, before Sparrow cleared his throat and directed his voice towards the Captain. "Yo, Appy, we've got a bit of a problem"

"Yeah...I heard. The Schnee thing, right?" Apollo replied, turning towards Sparrow, changing the atmosphere of the room immediately.

"Yeah. Those fuckwads on Vale screwed us all up. Now the authorities and gods forbid even the SDC Private Police is gonna be on our toes with the subject, and knowing how they work, they might as well use it as a pretext."

"For?"

"Racial cleanup, most probably. It's perfectly fine to kill thousands on behalf of one famous person dead. It's the law of the rich."

"But the guys said it themselves. We didn't do it."

"They won't care. They've been itching to do this since forever. Only now, they've been provided with a justification."

Apollo grabbed a nearby chair, and sat on it, bringing his right hand up to his face in frustration.

"So, Cap, that's about it. Any thoughts?" Sparrow asked, with a tinge of remorse on his voice.

A few moments passed until the Captain could regain his composure.

"Okay." Apollo directed his sight towards a male faunus standing against a wall overhearing the conversation. He was one of the men that came with him through the gate. "Finch, bring up the profiles of all Schnee family members coming for the funeral."

The man quickly made his way over to a computer terminal in the corner of the room and started frantically typing words on on the keyboard. Not long after he started, he had the results, and proceeded to read them out loud.

"Augustus Schnee, Gertrude Schnee, Snow Schnee..."

"_That's mighty original..._" Sparrow whispered under his breath, not loud enough for anybody to hear.

"...Barbara Schnee, Montus Schnee, Weiss Schnee-"

"Stop there," Apollo interrupted, looking a bit more hopeful. "Weiss Schnee, Winter Schnee's older sister, huntress at Beacon Academy."

"So?" Sparrow inquired, clearly confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Um, if I may interrupt..." Paloma silently asked, everyone then facing her. "If I lest not remember, Weiss Schnee is a member of the team that brought down Cinder and her subjugates."

"Yes," Apollo agreed.

"Apollo!? What are you thinking!?" Sparrow was struck by his simple reply.

"Paloma, could you mention the other members of their team out loud, please?"

"Um... They were...Yang Xiao Long...Ruby Rose...and...-"

Sparrow ended up finishing the sentence. "...Blake Belladonna."

"Exactly."

"Ha! The traitor!"

"Now, Sparrow, there's no need to lay all sorts of names..." Paloma mumbled.

Sparrow scorned at Paloma before continuing. "Oh come on, Chief, you can't be serious. She's no less."

"Even so, Sparrow, she was still a sister-in-arms," Paloma replied.

"Hah. I honestly can't fathom why her body isn't dead in a casket by now."

"For this same reason, Sparrow," Apollo acknowledged. "She's a vital source of information, one easy to convince."

"Hmph."

"However..." the Captain paused, "she still has to be convinced."

Apollo directed his sight towards Paloma, which proceeded to relay the usual mission instructions. "Be stealthy, but careful. Do not mention our name or do anything being from it, including expressions of mannerisms. Do not interact with anybody besides the target, unless strongly. Relay every 12 hours. Stay calm around authorities. Do not show your faunus extremities in public. Et cetera, et catera..."

"You forgot one thing."

"Hm?"

"Stay alive."

"Oh, yeah. That."

"Well then, Chief of Intelligence, we leave it all to you. Should we arrange a transport?"

"No need."

"Well then. Try, then, to wear something casual. This won't be anything overly dangerous, so suit yourself with what you want."

"You never know what may happen."

She left the conference room, walking towards her personal room, and after taking off her clothing, she selected a long-sleeved, skinny white shirt with simple, black feather designs all over, and some ragged jeans, complemented by a pair of black, laced boots. Over her head, she wore a black fedora with a white lace surrounding it. Lastly, she put on some brown aviator glasses.

Sparrow was the first to comment. "You've been dying to wear that since forever, haven't you?"

"Oh, shut up." It was true, though. She seldom wore anything that accentuated her...curves so much. Rather raunchy, and she liked it.

Apollo was the second. "You forgot something."

"Ah! Thanks for reminding!"

She ran back to her room and headed for her wardrobe. After pressing a few buttons, two circular slots appeared, large and deep enough to fully fit her extended arms, to which she did so. Shortly after, a barrage clicks ensues, and she took out her arms, revealing a pair of carbon fibre gauntlets. They resembled scales, running down her arms up until her fingers, with several slots sticking out, most noticeably one on her right arm which looked very much like a scope. They also had a few cables running all around, and were surprisingly sleek. Paloma flailed her arms downwards, fully accommodating her newly-acquired gear, and walked out of the room back over to the conference room.

"There's my girl," Apollo pointed out, and Paloma lowered her head as she felt a bit of heat run up from her neck over to her cheeks, excited to receive the complement she had been waiting for.

"Oh, don't flatter her, Apollo," Sparrow replied, resulting in an angry glare from Paloma's part.

"Well, I think you're ready."

"Yup."

"Stay safe, soldier."

"Can do."

She then proceeded to raise her left arm and snapped her fingers, shattering the world around her like glass while the others watched.

"Ugh, Apollo, I swear, she just does that to show off in my face."

"Interesting theory. Perhaps."

"You suck."

They then left to concentrate on their work, as Paloma quietly flew through the skies, enjoying it as she always did.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

Well then. I'm pretty sure I gave an OC more character development than Ruby in the whole two seasons. /s

But in all seriousness though, I finally got this done. It was actually a pretty enjoyable chapter to write! Now to Chapter 3. Oh boy.


	3. Chapter 3: There You Are

Nestled between mountains, the city of Atlas was a sight to behold. Even in the winter, sprawling metropolis seemed alive in every corner with drivers traveling up and down its snow-covered streets and pedestrians scattered in every sidewalk and corner. Many times had the city been called the best in Remnant and, arguably, it deserved it. Even so, its citizens so were accustomed to the scenery that they treated it as completely normal. Perhaps some more so that others, taking for example the lone limousine scampering down the main freeway between the barrage of vehicles around it.

"I'll never understand how the company couldn't invest in a closer area for their private landing pads."

"Perhaps because it wasn't necessary, young master."

"Preposterous. You have half of the city at your disposal; you might as well use it."

"Well, I do not know the reason for such decision, master, but perhaps you should talk to Mr. Schnee about it."

"I'd rather not say it at all, then." The young man pressed a button in a control pad beside him and the glass pane dividing himself from the driver was lowered. "Julian, how long until we arrive?"

The driver turned his head around and replied, "We should be there shortly, Sir."

Evidently, in about five minutes they had come down from the expressway and arrived at the installation's gates, where they were greeted by the sound of dozens of lenses clicking. A few news cameras started rolling as their respective reporters commenced to narrate the scene unfolding before them.

"Ugh. It's like they have nothing better to do."

"Should we shoo them off, Sir?"

"I'd very much love it if you did."

The chauffeur proceeded to blare the limousine's horn, evidently warning the reporters to scram. The car then safely drove through the gates leaving behind the still-dazed group.

"Thanks for that, Julian."

"At your service, Sir."

The SDC Private Aircraft Complex was an aircraft field for the high class to use their private airships without the turmoil of the public aircraft complex. Also, the SDC Premium Cruise System used this terminal as their main, and it was in one of such airships that a special group of people would arrive to be picked up by the limo.

Julian parked the car in an open, paved area near the main landing pad. To the back of the installation spread a beautiful valley from where you could see the city wall shine against the sunlight. The young master then opened the sunroof and after poking his head out, started scouting the skies for any sign of the arriving ship.

* * *

><p>"This is way too fancy for me."<p>

Yang slumped in her reclinable, leather chair, trying to find comfortable sitting position that would not involve placing her feet upon something. Blake was seated on the side of the room opposite at Yang, and was engulfed in the latest installment of "Ninjas of Love". Ruby and Weiss were nowhere to be seen.

"You know, you'd think that such a ginormous ship would have a bigger rooms."

"It does. We were just given a small one," Blake replied to Yang without taking her eyes off the book.

Yang paused to ponder on the thought before restarting a conversation once more. "You really think it's the right time to be reading smut?"

Blake sprung up at the sudden change of topic, throwing her book aside and subsequently burying her arms in her coat while letting out a small squee. The girls were sporting their winter clothing; coming to Atlas with their casual attires would most probably result in rather heavy cases of hypothermia.

Yang almost couldn't contain her laughter. "You should've seen the look in your face! The way you jumped up and opened your eyes and- wait, are you purring!?"

Blake couldn't answer that question, as she was interrupted by the swoosh of a sliding door and an entering Ruby, which was quickly confused as to what was happening in the room.

"W...hat's...going on?"

"DISREGARD THAT!" a crimson-red Blake scrambled to try and shove away the subject before Yang had a chance to explain.

"Right... Anyway..." Blake issued a deep sigh while Ruby continued. "I can't seem to find Weiss anywhere. Has she walked through here by any chance?"

"Nope," Blake and Yang simultaneously answered.

Ruby slid down on her chair disheartened by her unfruitful search. She was very much worried by her teammate's state of mind, which was deteriorating more and more since she first heard the news regarding her sister. For the two days they had been on the airship towards Atlas, she had only shown herself at the lunchroom and at sleep time, and silently disappeared not much after, regardless of how much persuasion her teammates gave her.

"Let's...just try to lighten up the atmosphere here, " Yang suggested while reaching for a nearby television controller. Thankfully the Cross Continental Transmit allowed for all types of signals to be transported around Remnant, this including TV signals. She pressed the power button and started scrolling through the channels.

_"The Mountain Glenn Recolonization Project has officially *_click_* Presenting 'The Talk Show' with Michael J. Caboose! *_click_* ...just look at that gigantic- *_click_* Entrepreneur König Sch-*_click_* The key word here is...'faunus'."_

Blake swiftly stole the controller from Yang's hands to prevent her from changing the channel and raised the volume. The channel was a news station reporting about a recent robbery in Downtown Atlas while interviewing a local police chief.

_"You see, Ray, faunus are faunus. They're a socially challenged group of beings, and when faced with deplorable conditions, they are quick to resort to do things like such. It's just in their DNA."_

Yang had to dash from her chair to across the room to try to restrain Blake from killing somebody. "WHAT!?" Her calm expression had turned into vile scorn as she flailed her arms like a madman. "LET ME GO! I'LL BREAK THAT TV WITH MY BARE HANDS!"

"That's EXACTLY why I'm holding you!" Yang screamed.

"I-I'm gonna go search for W-Weiss again," Ruby stuttered as she tried to shuffle away towards the door to get away from her fellow teammates, when a loud voice blared through the intercom.

"Mistresses Schnee, Rose, Belladonna, and Xiao Long, we will be shortly arriving at our destination. We hope we have been of your service."

The three girls stood frozen, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

* * *

><p>"I think I see them."<p>

Evidently, over the mountains soared a massive bronze-colored airship. Its pointy bow widened the closer it got to its stern, its hull lined with small windows and colored with gold highlights that complemented the original color. Its four wings protruded from the hull gracefully in an "x" shape, giving it the appearance of a beautiful dragonfly , leaving behind four long, red dust trails that dissipated into the skyline. A glass rotunda was attached to the bottom of its hull, acting as a sort of observatory for its passengers. Topping it off were two tall fins placed on the top of the ship, pointing diagonally to opposite sides respectively, decorated with the Schnee Dust Company logo painted in a simple pearl white that did not look out of place.

"The _Celestial Chariot_, crown jewel of the Atlasian Fleet."

"It certainly is amazing, young master."

"Indeed it is. I guess it counts something Uncle actually got right."

The airship finally positioned itself over the landing pad, just beside the docking station. Three pillars subsequently emerged from the ground and positioned themselves, one at the bow and two at the stern, to hold the weight of the lowering airship like dampers. When the dust generators on the aircraft's wings completely shut down, the pillars contracted on the ship's weight pressing against them.

As several tubes emerged from the docking station to lock with the aircraft, the limousine moved closer to the terminal, where the passengers would be gushing into.

_Breathe deeply, smile, and calmly greet._

* * *

><p>Team RBY tried their best to make their way around the avalanche of passengers, but to no avail. They were pushed and shoved around in the myriad of people trying to get out of the ship. The girls had not found Weiss, but figured they would eventually meet when everybody disembarked the ship, and their assumptions proved correct, as Ruby noticed a familiar white ponytail move among the crowd.<p>

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted time and time again, but it wasn't until they had finished up their security checkups and the crowd had dissipated that the former responded Ruby's chants. She gloomily turned around and eyed her teammates with the face the others were already accustomed to. Ruby made her way towards Weiss and gave her a soft hug, one that she did not welcome, as she bitterly pulled away.

"Leave me alone."

"Weiss..." Yang protested, but Weiss had already around and was walking towards the terminal doors. The rest of her team had no choice but to follow her, for they did not know where else to go.

Weiss was a mess. The turmoil on her head had only worsened as the days passed. She felt nobody understood her; she was alone in her own eyes. It was a mixture of grief, sorrow, and fear. _Fear._ Fear that had been tearing away her wretched soul bit by bit as she tried to forget about it altogether. However, she couldn't. Why? She did not know. It hurt. It ached. Was there a reason for this fear? Of course. Her sister wasn't killed in any sort of accident. She was killed in her room, inside her mansion; there is no way in hell any intruder can get in there. That's what she feared most of all, for her sister's killed will most probably be going for her also...and nobody will be able to protect her. It didn't matter how many hugs Ruby gave her, how many words of encouragement Yang hollered, or how much simple support Blake gave, nobody would see the killer coming. Weiss was already, and her friends didn't know it.

A familiar voice calling her name suddenly shattered Weiss's stupor. Looking up she saw her transport.

"König!"

"Well, if it isn't my lovely cousin!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

Well, then, here we go! Here's where the story officially starts.

At first I had a writer's block when writing König because I had no idea how to describe him. You'll eventually learn he's an interesting fella. Next chapter will probably be White Fang action, but I don't know.

Thanks for reading, and please review!


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